The Harlequin
by LolaWhite
Summary: Blay teases Qhuinn with his dance moves in Rhev's new club. Oneshot. Established Qhuay.


Disclaimer - The characters belong to JR Ward.

**AN** - This is a re-post. A little fluff to lighten up the mood. Ok, so I'm not sure I can actually pull off real fluff, but at least no one is depressive or angsty in this one, how's that? :D There's also a touch of humor and some Blay h.o.t.t.

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It started with Rhage.

Of course it started with Rhage.

Now Rhage is a pretty ok guy all things considered and if you're careful not to get him pissy enough and stay away from the Mother Bear meets Alien side of his "personality" you're all good, but then he gets these funny ideas sometimes and I could just strangle the guy, Beast or no Beast. It doesn't help that he could arm wrestle a Grizzly and wipe the floor with any one of us in two point five seconds flat, might as well put a sign around his neck saying "come on, take your best shot" in this house...

So it was Tuesday, the weather was beyond crappy, since November never decides if it wants to rain, drizzle or freeze and just ends up combining the three, we hadn't had a good fight in weeks and the tension was getting heavier by the day but Rhage … he decides that what everyone needs is a good old guys-night-out to pick up the mood.

"So? How 'bout it?"

Z didn't even grace him with an answer, Wrath growled and said unlike us sorry ass fuckers, he had shit to do even when we weren't neck deep in alligators, never mind that he was sprawled on the couch trying to teach the dog to roll over, Manny informed him he was taking Payne out for dinner and a concert so that left him grinning like an idiot in front of Blay and me, while Butch could be heard shooting pool in the next room.

"The Harlequin." he said "Rhev's been pushing us to stop by for drinks since he opened the damn thing. You two need to get out more, Mary's at Safe Haven with Marissa... Sounds like plan to me. Right, Butch?"

"I'm winning." came the muffled answer

"You're playing against yourself." Rhage deadpanned

"Which is the only reason it's worthwhile."

"Oh, come on, Blay and Qhuinn wanna go, don't spoil the kids' fun..."

See what I mean about the strangling?

"We never said we wanted to go."

Futile. We never stood a chance.

The Harlequin turned out to be very different from ZeroSum. For one the clientele was a little more select, although not by much and the hookers were clearly up-market, the kind that call themselves personal escorts and have a suite nearby instead of doing you in one of the bathrooms. The second thing that tipped you off you weren't in your regular dump was the décor, far from sleazy without falling into stuck up territory, which is a little harder to accomplish than most people might believe. The VIP lounge, where we ended up eventually, was a sort of raised platform in one corner, had it's own staff and was separated from the rest of the club by an iron rail. Right in front of it was the dance floor and around the walls were tables and booths, so from our vantage point we had a very nice view of all the grinding and faux sex going on in the rhythm of the music. The whole club was done in dark greens with the bar a neon lime color. All in all it was nice.

We'd been there for about an hour and Blay had gone from Coronas to straight up scotch. He doesn't really drink that often so I was starting to get a little worried but I did my best not to voice any of it since I think I'd been a bit overbearing the last couple of months. I figured he's just wound up like the rest of us, he just needs to blow off some steam. I figured, wow, Rhage actually nailed the problem this time. Right?

Right.

"I'm going to dance."

I look up at him and I guess the face I made must have said everything I didn't because he just sort of laughed - snorted - snickered and started going towards the dance floor. Blay never snickers. I sat there with my mouth gaping a little, trying to understand when exactly reality had morphed into The Twilight Zone while I saw him lean over a table, exchange a few sentences with some guy, then take him by the hand (by the hand!) and head off towards the DJ. By this point I was too dumbfounded to feel any traces of jealousy. I think. Al right, not really. Whatever.  
I tried remembering how many drinks he'd had. Couldn't. Tried again. Gave up.

Maybe I'm going about telling this all wrong.

Blay doesn't dance. Ever.

Oh, he can dance, I know that for a fact but he wouldn't be caught dead doing it in a club, any sort of club. In front of people. In front of _strangers_. Ever.

Rhage and Butch didn't even bat an eye because, clearly, they had no clue about the magnitude of what was happening but in one last attempt to clear some of my confusion I turned to them anyway

"Blay went to dance..."

Two raised eyebrows, one on each face. Had it been quiet, crickets would've been heard.

"Mmmmyeah. I noticed..." this from Butch. The "so what?" was all in the eyebrow.

"He's pretty good too." from Rhage

Ok, so they were both useless.

I dismissed them and looked back to the dance floor and then I forgot all about what I was supposed to talk to the Brothers about. Blay was... dancing. Well...yeah, in a way... you could call it that. From where I stood it looked more like the music was doing it's best to provide the background for the way his body moved and coming up short.

The man was breathtaking. There was no other word for it.

The bass was drowning out all other noise, seeping into my veins and punctuating every curve of Blay's hip. Another thing he's really good at is messing with my concentration and right about now it was shot twenty ways to sunday. I remember this one time when he managed to trick me out of over 2000 dollars in a poker game by involving the ice cubes in his glass, one finger and his tongue... I called it cheating, he called it creative strategizing. But I digress.

He was turned towards our table, the guy he'd picked up with his back to us and I was just starting to come out of the induced comma I seemed to be in and feel the beginnings of a growl in the back of my throat when this androgynous voice seeped through the speakers and Blay looked right at me.

_Do you pay for your crimes?_

_Does the punishment fit or drag your style to zero?_

Not only were his eyes nailing me to the couch, he was mouthing the words at me. The world disappeared except for the two of us and his unfortunate choice of a dancing partner. It was obvious whatever he was doing was for my benefit and not for the washed up punk in his arms, which increased the idiots chances of survival to about 2%.

The lights were blinking in rapid sequence, following the rhythm of the beats and Blay was moving his body left to right while raising his arms and swaying. Sexy doesn't really begin to cover it. The man has the body of Adonis.

_Take a look at your life and kneel before your heroes_... he mouthed pointing to the floor in front of him.

Oh... man...

I gulped what was left in my glass and tried unsuccessfully to erase that image from my brain but no such luck.

He took the guy by the shoulders and turned him to face me, gripping his hair and holding him by the waist. The whole thing looked hot, because it was Blay and because he was doing that thing with his shoulders when you can't tell if he's stretching, dancing or preparing to cock you one... but I was starting to feel a little sorry for the washed up punk...

_Could you care for the blind?_

_Tell me all in all, they're just your kind of zeros_

_Something for the weekend..._

He was moving the both of them along with the rhythm now... it reminded me of a snake playing with it's food so I counted the guy lucky for having closed his eyes or he might have ended up pissing his pants catching a glimpse of Blay's feral expression.

_If you think that you can spell_

_Make a list of the cunts you'd send to hell and send them_

He pushed the guy away from him hard enough that he tripped and almost fell

_Send them on the weekend..._

He brushed his hands on his pants and I think he might have pulled a few strands of hair from the guy's head. Couldn't really tell for sure. Didn't really give a shit either.

Blay started moving again but I think the washed up punk figured out the whole thing was a little more than your regular dance and made himself scarce. Sometimes even humans have good instincts. Blay passed a hand through his hair and unbuttoned a couple of buttons from his shirt in a very deliberate slow sort of motion, eyes a little drowsy, but still on me...

_I know it's a sin to kiss and swallow_

He absently touched his neck and then his mouth... Christ...

_A kick in the head to kill the hollow_

I want him. Is it possible for your brain to actually explode from lust?

"You were right..." I told Rhage without looking at him "My mood is really starting to pick up."

"Yeah... not sure this was what I had in mind originally..." he mumbled "I don't think the two of you get the whole guys-night-out thing..."

I was about to answer but Blay had abandoned the dance floor and was making his way slowly back to our table. Well... he was... rather gliding back, the laziest smile on his face.

_Are you listening?_

That smile...

_Are you listening?_

He was by the iron rail now, starting up the stairs.

_I can hold you down by candlelight._

Oh, baby, you can hold me down by anything you like.

When he stopped next to my chair and extended his hand to me, all disheveled hair, flushed cheeks and parted lips I swear to God I thought my knees would give out. I got up on unsteady feet and he jerked my arm making me loose my balance and grab on to him for support, the bastard.

"Did you like my little show?" he whispered in my ear, his hot breath on my neck making me tighten my grip on his waist.

"I did. The shithead is dead meat." I whispered back

"Oh? Are you actually jealous?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"I'll have to think about it but the thought of you all possessive is damn hot... Now how about we go christen one of these brand new bathrooms together?"

Oy... was he suggesting what I thought he was suggesting?

"We could go home..." I tried in a half hearted attempt at being the voice of reason

"We could but I want you now and I'm not willing to wait."

Well, hot damn... Not much you can say to that, is there?

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**AN** - I love reviews. They make me so happy... When I'm happy I write more... *wink wink nudge nudge*


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